July 21, 2011

SUPERHERO MOVIES: Is Their Demise Inevitable?

While admitting that the timing for the piece is ironic considering this is the weekend of San Diego Comic-Con, Deadline.com has posted a story suggesting that superhero movies could be heading towards their doom. Vasily Karasyov of the Susquehanna Financial Group, has issued a report making just such a claim. Notes Deadline, "The analyst says that the boom in superhero movies began around 2000 as computer generated imagery (CGI) made it easier for filmmakers to credibly show action that defies the laws of physics. Virtually all of the most popular films of the last decade couldn't have been made without CGI. Within that group Karasyov counts 16 superhero films, not counting sequels, resulting in four franchises: Fox's X-Men, Sony's Spider-Man, Warner Bros' Batman, and Paramount's Iron Man. Yet nothing has taken off since Iron Man came out in 2008, he says, largely because studios have already tapped their hottest properties. 'As film studios dig deeper into catalogues for characters for new films, we think the chances of finding a break out property are diminishing fast' -- even though the films still come with high production costs -- Karasyov writes. If superhero films fail to catch on, then studios can forget about raking in lots of additional revenue from licensed merchandise." The report suggests that Disney may ultimately regret its 2009 decision to purchase Marvel Comics for $4 billion. Not exactly news the Mouse House wants to hear.